Since taking office, Newark Mayor Cory Booker has put more cops on streets, launched a fugitive task force and cracked down on quality of life crimes -- efforts that have helped reduce overall crime. But killings continue to plague the city.

In the wake of an execution-style shooting that took the lives of three college students and left a fourth wounded, the mayor, who demanded during his campaign that residents hold him accountable for reducing crime, is facing criticism from some quarters of the city that he is not doing enough.

Yesterday, a small but determined faction of political foes even called for his resignation during a protest on the steps of City Hall.

"The mayor has to stop campaigning," said Lou Jones, a member of the Ivy Hill neighborhood association where the shootings took place. "The campaign is over. You need the community involved in the process."

At a separate news conference at police communication headquarters, Booker declined to respond to calls for him to step down. "I have nothing to say to those small groups trying to use this for politics," he said.

Instead, Booker repeatedly pleaded for residents to unite rather than assign blame for the triple homicide at the Mount Vernon School parking lot on Saturday.

"This is not a time to play politics, to divide our city," a somber Booker said. "This is a time when all Newarkers must pull together."

Talking about crime has been tricky for the mayor. Booker and Police Director Garry McCarthy have pointed out repeatedly that shootings and other crimes are down, but the city's murder rate remains stubbornly high. Some say that number, which rose to 60 over the weekend, will be used to determine Booker's success or failure as mayor.

"It doesn't matter whether Cory Booker or any other mayor said, `Hold me accountable,'" said Al Koeppe, president and chief executive of the Newark Alliance, a nonprofit focused on development, education and public safety in Newark. "The hard fact is he is accountable the moment he walks into that office."

David Kennedy, the director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said politicians like Booker must make promises to reduce crime.

"One of the things that leadership needs to do is make it clear that it's one of the most important issues and it's going to change," said Kennedy, who is working with the Booker administration on crime issues.

At the same time, community leaders and residents say, he shouldn't promise more than he can deliver on an issue that takes time to resolve.

"You win campaigns by promising you can do the impossible," said Mamie Bridgeforth, a sociology professor at Essex County College and former councilwoman who ran on a ticket against Booker's team. "You govern with the reality of what can and cannot be accomplished."

Jeff Walker, 34, a city parks and grounds worker, said Booker made too many promises.

"I haven't seen anything he's delivered on," Walker said. "He needs to step to the plate. It's not enough to say I live amongst you."

Others, though, did not feel it was right to blame the mayor.

"I don't think getting Cory Booker out would be the solution," said William Muhammad, a 37-year-old resident who did not vote for Booker last year. "He has to go on a tour and get with the church leaders in the city."

James Harvey, father of shooting victim Dashon Harvey, also said it was not right to point fingers at the mayor.

"I don't blame Mayor Booker," he said. "It's on you guys. It's on the parents. When you raise your kids up, teach them right from wrong.

"Calling for Mayor Booker's resignation, this doesn't start with him," he said.

Katie Wang and Jeffery C. Mays cover Newark City Hall. She can be reached at kwang@starledger.com or (973) 392-1504. He can be reached at jmays@starledger.com or (973) 392-4149.